I never promised you a rose garden

I was once promised a boutique hotel. I got intermittent electricity, trickling showers, and lunches that were served two hours after my stomach had given up its protest growl. Okay, the pool was attractive in its tropical luxuriance but again it's hygiene was questionable.

I fretted and I fumed and was told, "This is a boutique hotel, madam!" I assume he meant "with small hotel comes laid-back service". Besides, had I checked how much other "boutique" hotels were charging compared to this one?

Try googling "Indian boutique hotels" and you'll discover how utterly unclear we are about this classification of hotels... the search yielding anything from 215 room 5-star hotels and budget hotels to the regular "our conference room is our biggest asset" type 2-star hotels. One "boutique" hotel advertised "" a renovated palace in Gujarat "" turned out to be non-operational. A con, if there ever was one.

At one point boutique translated to oozing ultra modern minimalism (like the works of uber hip and true-to-his name Philippe Starck) and interesting decor became the default definition (In India, that often was interpreted in an intensely vivid "Mediterranean" theme).

Later, when self-conscious design became generic, it became about what the hotel owners and management believed in "" discretion, intimacy, organic living "" more than what their lamps and vases looked like.

But, at no point, I wanted to remind the laissez faire management of that hotel, could boutique be defined by small and sluggish. If we were to learn from our neighbour, Sri Lanka, boutique hotels can be reasonably affordable (to many) and offer exceptional service.

Boutique hotels in Sri Lanka have pooh-poohed minimalism, instead opting for multi-ethnic decoration, comfortably combining antiquity and contemporary.

The popular south-western coast is dotted with boutique guesthouses, intimate and discreet. Lawyer-turned famed architect Geoffrey Bawa's influence is everywhere, him credited with designing some of Sri Lanka's finest architectural triumphs.

Bawa is said to have harboured a great passion for designing the "private house", these villas revolving around generously proportioned rooms, enveloping verandahs, courtyards coloured by frangipani and alamanda, and latticed doorways framing views of the ocean.

But the point to be noted is that in most of these guesthouses, even the less extravagant ones, I have been repeatedly told, there is perfect synchronicity between the sophistication of interiors and quality of service.

Okay, so if we are to assume that boutique hotels are not always our forte, let's try and find our own individual strengths. Which is why I was so pleased to speak to stakeholders in what I believe is the future of niche tourism in India- home stays.

These enterprising men and women, a vast majority from Kerala, extend their homes and lives to tourists, nurturing a very specific fantasy to participate in traditional agrarian living.

It's often classified under eco-tourism, seen as supporting local businesses and sustainable farming practices. Plus, as Anu Mathew, who runs Phillipkutty's Farm on a man-made island near Kottayam, says, it yields far greater returns than agriculture.

Travel operators are catching on, and are finding many takers for organic home-stays in Ladakhi villages, for example. Indians have always been charming hosts at home, so one assumes we will be good at doing what comes naturally.

Also, perhaps, at a home stay, one would be more agreeable to good-naturedly shrugging off a noisy fan or a dripping shower, and put it down to bona fide experience. Boutique hotels on the other hand, need to re-examine their original purpose and meet it, or risk becoming too cliched to be distinctive.